Electrical and mechanical dogging device

ABSTRACT

A panic exit latch and actuator assembly comprising a latch bolt movable between a projected position and a retracted position with a spring yieldably urging the bolt to its projected position. A solenoid is operatively connected to the latch bolt by a control member, the solenoid being electro-magnetically arranged such that it requires significantly less current to hold its armature in its retracted position against the urging of the latch bolt spring than to retract the armature against such urging. The latch bolt is also moved by an actuator element, the actuator element being driven by a panic bar. The actuator element itself is arranged to move the armature of the solenoid to its retracted position, and a dogging screw or other such locking member is provided to hold the armature in its retracted position even when the solenoid is deenergized.

United States Patent 1 Zawadzki et a1.

[4 1 Dec. 17, 1974 ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL DOGGING DEVICE [73] Assignee: Von Duprin, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind. [22] Filed: July 18, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 380,504

[52] US. Cl. 292/201, 292/92 [51] Int. Cl. E05c 3/06 [58] Field of Search 292/144, 92, 201; 335/253,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,146,968 2/1939 Macagno 70/282 3,206,656 9/1965 Musgrave... 335/253 3,521,921 7/1970 Miya2aki.... 292/144 3,576,119 4/1971 Harris..... 292/144 3,731,963 5/1973 Pond 292/144 3,743,898 7/1973 Sturman 335/268 3,751,086 8/1973 Geringer 292/144 3,753,316 8/1973 Savarieau 292/144 X 3,767,238 10/1973 Zawadzki 70/279 Primary Examiner-Roy D. Frazier Assistant ExaminerPeter A. Aschenbrenner Attorney, Agent, or Firml-lood & Coffey [5 7] ABSTRACT A panic exit latch and actuator assembly comprising a latch bolt movable between a projected position and a retracted position with a spring yieldably urging the bolt to its projected position. A solenoid is operatively connected to the latch bolt by a control member, the solenoid being electro-magnetically arranged such that it requires significantly less current to hold its armature in its retracted position against the urging of the latch bolt spring than to retract the armature against such urging. The latch bolt is also moved by an actuator element, the actuator element being driven by a panic bar. The actuator element itself is arranged to move the armature of the solenoid to its retracted position, and a dogging screw or other such locking member is providedto hold the armature in its retracted position even when the solenoid is deenergized.

11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL DOGGING DEVICE It is a primary object of our present invention to provide a panic exit latch and actuator assembly of the type including a panic bar or push plate drivingly connected to the latch bolt and a dogging device also drivingly connected to the latch bolt. For such an assembly, we provide an electrical dogging device which is so proportioned and arranged that it can also be manually operated. Particularly, we provide solenoid means for moving the latch bolt from its projected position to its retracted position and holding the latch bolt in its retracted position. We prefer to use a type of solenoid which will require significantly less current to hold its armature, and therefore the latch bolt, in its retracted position than is required for actually retracting the armature and the latch bolt.

It is an object of our invention to provide such a dogging device which can be actuated manually by pressing upon the panic bar or push plate to retract the latch bolt and then advancing a dogging screw or other locking member to hold the armature of the solenoid means in its retracted position.

Panic exit latch and actuator assemblies of the type with which the present dogging system is ideally used are disclosed in George Z. Zawadzki Pat. applications Ser. No. 61,110 filed Aug. 5, 1970, now US. Pat. No. 3,633,047; Ser. No. 65,201 filed Aug. 19, 1970, now US. Pat. No. 3,614,145; and Ser. No. 135,028 filed Aug. 19, 1971, now US. Pat. No. 3,730,574. Another electrical dogging system has previously been disclosed in a pending George Z. Zawadzki application Ser. No. 250,185 filed May 4, 1972, now US. Pat. No.

Other objects and features of our present invention will become apparent as this description progresses.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, thisinvention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of our preferred panic exit latch and actuator assembly including the dogging system of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of the solenoid means used in the assembly of FIG. 1 showing the armature held in its dogging position by means of a dogging screw;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the solenoid means showing what happens when the armature is retracted against the mechanical holding device;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view showing the manner in which the dogging screw advances against the locking washer; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view showing how the solenoid means is drivingly connected to the latch bolt.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that there is illustrated an assembly including a housing means 12 providing a front surface 14 and a rear surface 16 which is attached to the door. A push plate or push bar 18 extends through an opening bounded by the edges 20 in the front surface 14, the push bar being mounted for rectilinear bodily movement toward and away from the rear surface 16 as described in the said prior applications Ser. Nos. 61,1 10; 65,201; and 135,028, now US. Pat. Nos. 3,663,047; 3,614,145; and 3,730,574, respectively. These prior patents disclose the toggle mechanism structure of the assembly of the present invention and particularly the manner in which the push bar 18 is movable outwardly and inwardly to move an actuator element or retractor element to retract the latch bolt.

Reference is also made to the pending application Ser. No. 250,185, filed Mar. 4, 1972, now United States patent which discloses a dogging device for the latch bolt of such a toggle mechanism push bar assembly.

In the drawings, the latch bolt is indicated by the reference numeral 62. The latch boltis conventionally mounted for pivotal'movement about a pivot pin 64, and a crank 66 is mounted for pivotal movement about the axis of a pin 68 disposed inwardly from the pin 64. The latch bolt 62 is drivingly connected to the crank 66 by a short rigid link 70 by use of pivot pins indicated at 72, 74. This latch bolt linkage mechanism and its advantages are described in the aforesaid prior applications.

The distal end of the upwardly extending arm of crank 66 is pivotally connected as indicated at 78 to the right-hand end 80 of a rigid link 82 which is also described in the said prior applications. The link 82 is a major component of what we refer to as first means for connecting the rectilinearly movable actuator element 86 to the latch bolt 62. The actuator element 86 has a ement to its latch-projectedposition. Another such coiled spring (notshown) is disposed between another bracket in the housing and a flange of the link 82 yieldably to urge the link 82 to the right (FIG. 1) to its latchprojected position. This is the spring which urges the bolt 62 to its projected position. The actuator element 86 is movably supported also by means of pins 104 extending outwardly from the actuator element and upon which rollers 106 are journal mounted. The link 82 is provided with an elongated slot 108 (FIG. 5) which receives at least one of the pins 104 at the right-hand end of the actuator element 86. The link 82 is drivingly connected to the actuator element 86 by means of the engagement of. the pin 104 in the slot 108. It is the length of this slot 108 which provides the lost-motion connection between the bolt 62 and the actuator element 86. That is, the bolt 62 can move inwardly to move the rigid link 82 to the left as shown in FIG. 5 and in FIG. 1 without moving the actuator element 86 away from its first position corresponding to the latch-projected position of the bolt. Since the pin 104 is normally against the left-hand end of the'slot 108, any movement of the actuator element 86 to the left toward its second position (latch-retracted position) will start to move the bolt 62 inwardly.

At its extreme left-hand end, the link 82'is provided with an upwardly extending flange portion 112 to which a control member 114 is connected as indicated at 116. In the illustrative embodiment, the portion 112 carries the pin 116 which is received in an elongated slot 117 in the control member 114. This pin 116 is normally at the extreme right-hand end of the slot 117 such that, when the control member 114 moves to the left as viewed in FIG. 1, the link 82 will move to the left to retract the latch bolt 62. The control member 114 is moved to the left by means of a solenoid as will be more completely discussed hereinafter.

The left-hand end 118 of the control member 114, in the illustrative embodiment, is threaded and engaged into an axially extending bore 120 of a connecting member 121. A nut 122 is threaded onto theend 118 to tighten against the connecting member 121 for the purpose of keeping the connecting member for rotating reltive to the control member 114. The connecting member 121 itself includes a threaded shank portion 124 which threadedly engages a tapped bore 126 in the armature 128 of a solenoid 130. The armature 128 is a cylindrical ferrous metal armature, and the solenoid 130 provides a cylindrical bore 132 in which the armature reciprocates. The axis of the bore 132, in the illustrative embodiment, is parallel to the axis of the actuator element 86 as well as concentric with the axes of the control member 114 and connector member 121. At the bottom end (left-hand end) of the bore 132 is the plunger 133 of a control switch 134 for the solenoid. When the solenoid is energized such that the armature 128 moves to its completely retracted position, the armature will compress the plunger 132 to operate the switch 134. We show wires 135 going through a grommet 136 in the housing to the field coil means 137 of the solenoid. The solenoid 130 is a conventional and commercially available solenoid of the type which requires more current for retracting its armature against a load than it does to hold its armature in its completely retracted position against the urging of the loadyBasically, when the armature is completely retracted, the switch 134 is operated to reduce the number of windings which are energized to hold the armature 128 in its completely retracted position. Such a solenoid may be purchased from WestCoast Electrical Manufacturing Company, Los Angeles, California as Model No. A-464.

importantly, the connector member 121 has a cylindrical trunnion portion 138 between the right-hand end of the armature and the prominent radially outwardly extending flange at the right-hand end of the connector member. A circular washer 140 is concentrically mounted upon this portion 138 for movement axially thereon. Then, a compression spring 142 is concentrically disposed between the washer 140 and the flange at the right-hand end of the connector member yieldably to urge the washer to the left against the armature. A radially extending threaded opening 144 is provided in the solenoid housing communicating with the space in which the washer 140 moves. A dogging screw 146 is threadedly engaged in this opening 144, the dogging screw having a radially inwardly extending tip 148. The dogging screw cooperates with the washer 140 to dog 'the armature 128 in its completely retracted position as is shown in FIG. 2. Particularly, when the dogging screw 146 is threaded inwardly, its tip 148 projects inwardly and to the right of the washer 140 to keep the armature from moving to the right even when the power is removed from the solenoid 130. The dogging screw 146 illustrated has a conventional Allen-head socket 150 formed therein, and the housing outer cover 14 is provided with a covered opening 152 registering with the socket head so that security personnel carrying the proper socket wrench can have access to the dogging screw 146.

Even if someone makes a mistake and threads the dogging screw 146 inwardly as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and particularly before the armature 128 is completely retracted as shown in FIG. 2, the power of the solenoid will be sufficient to retract the armature against the urging of the spring 142 as shown in FIG. 3 to hold the bolt 62 in its retracted position. This means that the tip 148 will keep thewasher 140 from moving to the left in its normal position against the right-hand end of the armature 128.

In the illustrative and preferred embodiment, the washer 140 is bevelled at an angle such as 35 while the tip 148 is bevelled at an angle such as 30 as illustrated in FIG. 4 so that, if the dogging screw 146 is advanced against the washer, the two bevelled surfaces coming together will automatically move the washer 140 to the right against the urging of the spring 142 without doing any damage to the outer peripheral surface of the washer or the tip 148 of the screw 146. This is a safety feature which we believe is important.

' In accordance with the present invention, first means provides an operative connection between the actuator element 86 and the latch bolt 62 as discussed above, while second means provides an operative connection between the push bar 18 and the actuator element to move the actuator element from its first position to its said second position in response to movement of the push bar inwardly. In the illustrative and preferred embodiment, the said second means includes toggle mechanisms, one of which is indicated at 184, which function as fully described in the said prior patent applications. Each toggle mechanism includes a rigid link 188 pivoted at one end as indicated at 190 to the inner wall of the housing and another link 192 pivotally connected by a pin 194 to the distal end of the link 188. A roller 196 is journalled on the pin 194 to roll in a support bracket 198 attached to the push bar 18 as illustrated. The opposite end of each link 192 is pivotally connected to the actuator element 86 by the pin 104. Thus, as described in the said prior applications, movement of the push bar 18 inwardly moves the actuator element in the direction of the arrow 142 (FIG. 1) in opposition to the spring 88.

The left-hand end 200 of the actuator element 86 abut's against the connector member 121 such that, when the push bar 18 is pushed inwardly, the actuator element pushes the armature 128 inwardly (to the left as viewed in FIG. 1). This arrangement is such that the latch bolt 62 can be manually dogged into its retracted position by pushing in on the push bar 18 to move the armature to its fully retracted position and then advancing the screw 146. In other words, the latch bolt 62 can be dogged into position manually as well as electrically. The spring-loaded washer 140 arrangement permits electrical dogging even when the mechanical dogging system (screw 146) is untimely or improperly operated.

We claim:

1. A panic exit latch and actuator assembly comprising a latch bolt movable between a projected position and a retracted position, spring means yieldably urging said bolt to its projected position, an actuator element, means supporting said actuator element for movement between a first position and a second position, first means providing an operative connection between said actuator element and said latch bolt to move said latch bolt to its retracted position in response to movement of said actuator element from its first position to its second position, a panic bar for moving said actuator element from its first position to its second position, a control member movable between a first position and a second position, said control member being operatively connected to said latch bolt to move said latch bolt to its retracted position in response to movement of said control member from its first position to its second position, said first connection means including a lostmotion connection permitting movement of said latch bolt to its retracted position by said control member without moving said actuator element from its first position to its second position, and solenoid means for moving said control member from its first position to its second position, said solenoid means including an armature movable between a projected position corresponding to the first position of said control member and a retracted position corresponding to the second position of said control member, means providing a connection between said armature and control member, and field coil means through which current flows to retract said armature and hold it in its retracted position, said solenoid means being electro-magnetically arranged such that it requires significantly less current to hold said armature in its retracted position against the urging of said spring means than to retract it against such urging.

2. The invention of claim 1 in which said means providing an operative connection between said armature and said control member includes a connector member attached to said armature, said actuator element being movable against said connector member to move said armature to its retracted position when said actuator element moves from its first position to its second position.

3. The invention of claim 1 including manually operable means for holding said armature in its retracted position when said solenoid means is deenergized.

4. The invention of claim 3 in which said manually operable means includes a locking member movable transversely into the path of movement of said armature.

S. The invention of claim 4 in which said locking member is a locking screw, the distal tip of which moves into the path of said armature.

6. The invention of claim 2 in which said connector member provides a trunnion portion extending outwardly from said armature in the direction of its movement and a flange extending outwardly from said trunnion portion and spaced from said armature, a washer mounted on said trunnion portion for movement between said armature and said flange, a compression spring coiled about said trunnion portion and yieldably urging said washer against said armature, and a locking member for holding said armature in its retracted position when said solenoid means is deenergized, said locking member being movable transversely into a position engaging said washer to prevent movement of said armature toward its projected position.

7. The invention of claim 6 in which said solenoid means is effective to retract said armature and hold it against the urging of said compression spring when said locking member is in its washer engaging position with the armature in its projected position and said solenoid means is energized.

8. The invention of claim 7 in which said locking member is a screw, the distal tip of which is threadedly advanced into washer engaging position.

9. The invention of claim 8 in which said washer has a bevelled peripheral edge and said screw has a bevelled distal tip such that, when said screw is advanced against said washer, the washer will be moved by the camming action of such bevels away from said armature against the urging of said compression spring.

10. A panic exit latch and actuator assembly comprising a latch bolt movable between a projected position and a retracted position, spring means yieldably urging said bolt to its projected position, a control member movable between a first position and a second position, said control member being operatively connected to said latch bolt to move said latch bolt to its retracted position in response to movement of said control member from its first position to its second position, and solenoid means for moving said control member from its first position to its second position, said solenoid means including an armature movable between a projected position corresponding to the first position of said control member and a retracted position corresponding to the second position of said control member, means providing a connection between said armature and control member, and field coil means through which current flows to retract said armature and hold it in its retracted position, said solenoid means being electro-magnetically arranged such that it requires significantly less current to hold said armature in its retracted position against the urging of said spring means than to retract it against such urging, said means providing an operative connection between said armature and said control member including a connector member attached to said armature, said connector member providing a trunnion portion extending outwardly from said armature in the direction of its movement and a flange extending outwardly from said trunnion portion and spaced from said armature, a washer mounted on said trunnion portion for movement between said armature and said flange, a compression spring coiled about said trunnion portion and yieldably urging said washer against said armature, and a locking member for holding said armature in its retracted position when said solenoid means is deenergized, said locking member being movable transversely into a position engaging said washer to prevent movement of said armature toward its projected position.

11. The invention of claim 10 in which said solenoid means is effective to retract said armature and hold it against the urging of said compression spring when said locking member is in its washer engaging position with the armature in its projected position and said solenoid means is energized. 

1. A panic exit latch and actuator assembly comprising a latch bolt movable between a projected position and a retracted position, spring means yieldably urging said bolt to its projected position, an actuator element, means supporting said actuator element for movement between a first position and a second position, first means providing an operative connection between said actuator element and said latch bolt to move said latch bolt to its retracted position in response to movement of said actuator element from its first position to its second position, a panic bar for moving said actuator element from its first position to its second position, a control member movable betwEen a first position and a second position, said control member being operatively connected to said latch bolt to move said latch bolt to its retracted position in response to movement of said control member from its first position to its second position, said first connection means including a lost-motion connection permitting movement of said latch bolt to its retracted position by said control member without moving said actuator element from its first position to its second position, and solenoid means for moving said control member from its first position to its second position, said solenoid means including an armature movable between a projected position corresponding to the first position of said control member and a retracted position corresponding to the second position of said control member, means providing a connection between said armature and control member, and field coil means through which current flows to retract said armature and hold it in its retracted position, said solenoid means being electro-magnetically arranged such that it requires significantly less current to hold said armature in its retracted position against the urging of said spring means than to retract it against such urging.
 2. The invention of claim 1 in which said means providing an operative connection between said armature and said control member includes a connector member attached to said armature, said actuator element being movable against said connector member to move said armature to its retracted position when said actuator element moves from its first position to its second position.
 3. The invention of claim 1 including manually operable means for holding said armature in its retracted position when said solenoid means is deenergized.
 4. The invention of claim 3 in which said manually operable means includes a locking member movable transversely into the path of movement of said armature.
 5. The invention of claim 4 in which said locking member is a locking screw, the distal tip of which moves into the path of said armature.
 6. The invention of claim 2 in which said connector member provides a trunnion portion extending outwardly from said armature in the direction of its movement and a flange extending outwardly from said trunnion portion and spaced from said armature, a washer mounted on said trunnion portion for movement between said armature and said flange, a compression spring coiled about said trunnion portion and yieldably urging said washer against said armature, and a locking member for holding said armature in its retracted position when said solenoid means is deenergized, said locking member being movable transversely into a position engaging said washer to prevent movement of said armature toward its projected position.
 7. The invention of claim 6 in which said solenoid means is effective to retract said armature and hold it against the urging of said compression spring when said locking member is in its washer engaging position with the armature in its projected position and said solenoid means is energized.
 8. The invention of claim 7 in which said locking member is a screw, the distal tip of which is threadedly advanced into washer engaging position.
 9. The invention of claim 8 in which said washer has a bevelled peripheral edge and said screw has a bevelled distal tip such that, when said screw is advanced against said washer, the washer will be moved by the camming action of such bevels away from said armature against the urging of said compression spring.
 10. A panic exit latch and actuator assembly comprising a latch bolt movable between a projected position and a retracted position, spring means yieldably urging said bolt to its projected position, a control member movable between a first position and a second position, said control member being operatively connected to said latch bolt to move said latch bolt to its retracted position in response to movement of said control member from its first position to its second posItion, and solenoid means for moving said control member from its first position to its second position, said solenoid means including an armature movable between a projected position corresponding to the first position of said control member and a retracted position corresponding to the second position of said control member, means providing a connection between said armature and control member, and field coil means through which current flows to retract said armature and hold it in its retracted position, said solenoid means being electro-magnetically arranged such that it requires significantly less current to hold said armature in its retracted position against the urging of said spring means than to retract it against such urging, said means providing an operative connection between said armature and said control member including a connector member attached to said armature, said connector member providing a trunnion portion extending outwardly from said armature in the direction of its movement and a flange extending outwardly from said trunnion portion and spaced from said armature, a washer mounted on said trunnion portion for movement between said armature and said flange, a compression spring coiled about said trunnion portion and yieldably urging said washer against said armature, and a locking member for holding said armature in its retracted position when said solenoid means is deenergized, said lockingg member being movable transversely into a position engaging said washer to prevent movement of said armature toward its projected position.
 11. The invention of claim 10 in which said solenoid means is effective to retract said armature and hold it against the urging of said compression spring when said locking member is in its washer engaging position with the armature in its projected position and said solenoid means is energized. 